You Call it Christmas, We Call it Yule (Peg Aloi: Witchvox)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h4 style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;">This is a reproduced article for information purposes, quoting from a fairly popular Witchcraft page. Read carefully and take note!</span></h4> Author: Peg Aloi [a WitchVox Sponsor]<br /> Posted: December 12th. 1997<br /> Times Viewed: 32,317<br /> <br /> Try though we might, it is not easy to escape the influence of Christmas in this country. It is easy to become jaded and cynical about it, wondering why it is not the magical time we all experienced as children, wondering how it ever got so commercial. For modern pagans who may still observe the holiday because their families do, it is a confusing time of year; how to celebrate this as a seasonal festival when so many of our associations with this holiday have to do with gifts, food and merrymaking?<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzrNh0qUCSlir8CBFGOkx_3ZO2ZlwQ4saUDlbg_5554vEmj0ulvsTbOw-hrOqGsSPOSQQfnR9fqkgmkJs4cJ_VBtwiz9IKdfLNHBNXIxMwDyqj2GxAVqUJ6oWYfMw3pfeTadn7Cjp2oLo/s1600/5562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzrNh0qUCSlir8CBFGOkx_3ZO2ZlwQ4saUDlbg_5554vEmj0ulvsTbOw-hrOqGsSPOSQQfnR9fqkgmkJs4cJ_VBtwiz9IKdfLNHBNXIxMwDyqj2GxAVqUJ6oWYfMw3pfeTadn7Cjp2oLo/s640/5562.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> Even for those who celebrate this day as the birth of Christ, it must be difficult to stay focused on that significance, with the tinsel and shopping and office parties and the newest toys for kids clouding their vision. I for one find that cynicism abounds at this time of year, and that many adults dread the "holidays" because of family issues and stresses that seem to become more pronounced. The emphasis on having a picture-perfect "Martha Stewart" style celebration is a set-up for disappointment; and kids these days are so focused on getting presents that they hardly have time to enjoy the more sensual pleasures of the season (winter activities, traditional foods, music, decorations). Of course Christmas was not always this way; modern societies are far removed from our ancient connections to Nature; yet we still retain customs derived from the agricultural calendars of our ancestors. Perhaps there is something to be said for examining the modern traditions of Christmas in light of their ancient origins. It may be surprising to find that many of the customs still associated with Christmas today are, in fact, derived from ancient pagan traditions.<br /> <br /> The seasonal observance of holidays such as Channukah and Kwaanza are tangentially influenced by the overwhelming emphasis on Christmas, and in the United States it has become common in recent years to give a more even representation of these holidays alongside the more popular one: Christmas. Yet the religious significance of the season seems remarkably absent much of the time. And of course the symbols of the season are very secular in nature: trees, mistletoe and holly, Santa Claus, reindeer...how do such symbols relate to the birth of Christ?<br /> <br /> Christ's Birthday? or Winter Solstice?<br /> <br /> To begin, let us look at the actual reason this holiday exists: for Yule and Christmas are not so very different, underneath it all; both celebrate the arrival of the sun/son; or, if you like, the light of the world...<br /> <br /> Ronald Hutton, in his excellent book The Stations of the Sun, has this to say about the story of the Nativity: It "makes sense on a mythological level--an archetypal representation of the birth of a hero at the junction of many worlds, (who is) engendered partly of humans and partly of the divine, born in a location that is neither indoors nor in the open air, belonging partly to humans and partly to animals, and adored by those on the margins of society."<br /> <br /> Most modern pagans acknowledge Yule as the rebirth of the light half of the year; some traditions perform the play of the Oak King and the Holly King, just as it is done at Midsummer, to mark the change of the seasons as one of them reigns over the other. It is also generally accepted that the date of Christmas is an arbitrary one; that it was chosen to coincide with the pagan solstice celebration, as a way of "converting" the "heathens" (or country folk, heath-dwellers) to the Christian way of life.<br /> <br /> The first written record of the reason for this holiday's occurrence on December 25th was in 354 AD, in Rome, when one scholar wrote: "It was customary for pagans to celebrate the birth of the sun...when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnized on that day."<br /> <br /> However, the tradition of celebrating the solstice on this day is not much older, at least according to extant records: it was officially decreed in the year 274 by the emperor Aurelian. A century later, the archbishop of Constantinople observed that fixing the date of the "Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness" was necessary because "while the heathens were busied with their profane rites, the Christians might perform their holy ones without disturbance." Saint Augustine encouraged Christians to honor "He who made the sun, not the sun itself."<br /> <br /> As an aside, the word "Yule" is believed to derive from a colloquial Scandinavian term meaning "wheel." There is also some speculation it is dervied from the Old English word for "jolly." But its exact etymology is still debated. The concept of the wheel makes more sense to me, since this date marks the definitive point in the Wheel of the Year, and for many cultures and calendars it is the start of the new year.<br /> <br /> We know that the observance of the winter solstice was very significant in ancient times. Since this date represented the moment when the days would again become longer, when light would return to the land, the rural folk who faced lean times in winter had reason to be thankful. The use of candles as decorations and ritual objects, dating from ancient times, clearly indicates the importance of honoring the deities of light. The sun's return meant spring was on its way,and with it, the birth of new animals to the flock, and the softening of the soil tilled by our ancestors who lived as animal herders and farmers. Their celebration of this date as a holy day, when they worshiped and honored the sun as a deity, was an affirmation of their survival of the cold months of winter. They subsisted on the dried meats of the animals they slaughtered at Samhain, and what little produce they could preserve from the final harvest.<br /> <br /> Much of the folklore surrounding winter solstice rituals from various cultures has to do with very basic symbols of agriculture and animal husbandry; in other words, the dormancy of winter as a time of scarcity, and the return of the light as a harbinger of new growth. In Frazer's The Golden Bough it is observed that Bethlehem means "House of Bread,"and that this indicates an association of the birth of Christ with ancient rituals honoring a god of grain and vegetation. The Christian mass includes as its central climax the sharing of bread which represent Christ's body; such symbology dates from well before the dawn of Christianity. And the drinking of the fruit of the vine, in addition to honoring ancient harvest deities like Bacchus and Dionysus, was also believed to insure a bountiful grape harvest in the coming year.<br /> <br /> In areas where other fruits were the important crop (like apples in England), many rituals developed around blessing the orchards at Yuletide. Called "saining," these rites blessed fruit trees and livestock so that they might bring abundant food in the seasons ahead. Many of the "wassail" songs reflect this in their lyrics, such as "And here is to Cherry and to his right eye; May Yule bring our mistress a good mincemeat pie." During these rites, Cherry, a common name for a roan-colored cow, might even have a cup of cider tossed in his face; the way his head turned in response was considered a way of divining the health of the herd in the months to come.<br /> <br /> The Holly and the Ivy; Did Someone Say "Tree Worship?"<br /> <br /> Another potent symbol of Yuletide is the use of evergreen plants to decorate indoors, including holly, ivy, and mistletoe. In the British Isles, it has been customary since time immemorial to decorate with flowers or greenery at all seasonal celebrations; the traditional "evergreen" plants were those that flourished in the winter months, and also included rosemary, gorse, bay, cypress, and yew. The tradition of kissing under a bough of greenery first became widespread in the late 18th century; but this was as likely to be made of holly or gorse as it was to be mistletoe. The ancient association of mistletoe with the Druids was mentioned in a Christmas short story by Washington Irving in 1819, around the time of the revival of interest in Druidism in England. But apparently its vibrancy during winter and its lovely white berries were the main reasons for its popularity as "the kissing bush."<br /> <br /> Many modern Witches still perform a ritual of the Oak King and Holly King at Midsummer and Midwinter. The Holly King rules the Waning year; the Oak King, the Waxing Year. The two battle each other for dominance at Litha and Yule, respectively. Just as this rite is a symbolic reenactment of the sacrifice of a young male of the tribe, to appease the gods who ruled the seasons; it is clear that Christ, like the Persian god Mithras (also born at Midwinter), is a symbol of rejuvenation and light. In cold climates, basic survival was based upon subsisting from one harvest to the next; honoring the return of the sun was believed to ensure a bountiful crop, and healthy livestock. In the British Isles (the birthplace of modern Witchcraft, and a region bursting with centuries of religious conflict and mystery) many other rites and customs still exist that reflect these "heathen" (heath-dweller, or country folk) ways of life.<br /> <br /> Eat, Drink and Be Merry, or, How Not to Diet During the Holidays<br /> <br /> One undeniable feature of the Christmas holidays centers around traditional foods, and the time-honored "tradition" of feasting (and, in our sedentary society, over-eating). Many of us who celebrated Christmas as children have vivid memories of special dishes (some we loved, some we hated! my own favorites were a rosemary-roasted chicken prepared by my grandfather, and my dad's fried smelt; but I watched in horror as other family members ate calamari or Yorkshire pudding). The sheer plethora of traditional cookies and sweets of the season, from many cultures but especially prevalent in Germany, Italy and the UK, is testament to an elaborate history of foods created especially for the season of Yule.<br /> <br /> Originally, feasting at this season had several purposes: one, to acknowledge the return of the season of growth with eating heartily during a season of scarcity was a way to give physical expression to the hope for abundance in the year to come. Second, in countries where winter meant a very bleak time of inactivity (as in the fishing and farming communities of rural Scotland), a feast was a way of alleviating boredom and depression. Third, the elaborate Yuletide activities of the nobility from the Middle Ages onward gradually developed into status-conscious events wherein households vied with each other for acts of generosity to their communities: for the poor, this meant eating well and receiving much-needed gifts of new clothing or shoes. During the Protestant Reformation, when Yuletide festivities were all but banned, there were still some stubborn monarchs and lords who persisted in their celebratory rites of feasting and of treating their household servants to a fine meal; to do less would be disastrous, as growing levels of poverty meant food shortages in winter.<br /> <br /> As Christianity gradually usurped the pagan ways of worship, the custom of Advent, which is a month-long fast before Christmas, reflects these times when people had to survive eating very little. A "fast" meant no eggs, meat or cheese could be consumed, among the wealthy; the poor generally ate very little meat anyway, and so for Advent gave up other staples, such as cider. It then became a custom to feast on the 25th, and to mark this day with acts of hospitality and generosity. The rich were expected to open their doors and purses for all; this could well have been the precursor to the tradition of helping those less fortunate at the holidays, and giving gifts to those who serve others all year, such as mail-carriers, domestic help, etc. But there were instances when the nobility merely entertained their social equals, not their inferiors, on this day. One poem from this period says:<br /> <br /> "At Christmas we banquet, the rich and the poor, Who then (but the miser) but openeth his door?"<br /> <br /> Until the virtual collapse of the English aristocracy this century, it was still very common to see remnants of these traditions taking place among the rural nobility. For two excellent portrayals of the Christmas celebrations of English country manor homes in the early 20th century, I recommend the films A Handful of Dust (starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Rupert Graves and Sir Alec Guinness) and The Shooting Party (starring Sir John Gielgud and James Mason). The first contains an authentic version of a masque; the second a wonderful exploration of relations between the peasants and the aristocracy,and how this class distinction is blurred during the holidays.<br /> <br /> The concept of feasting during the Middle Ages was naturally different from what it became in later centuries, when advances in farming and hygiene allowed more people to be fed more efficiently. As the years wore on, feasting at Yuletide/Christmas became very elaborate, particularly among the nobility. One common table centerpiece for wealthy households was the boar's head; it was first recorded as being requested for Yule by the bishop of Hereford in 1289. So notorious did this dish become, as it was something of a status symbol to be able to serve it, that there were even songs written in its honor, like "The Boar's Head Carol":<br /> <br /> "The boar's head in hand bear we, bedecked with bays and rosemary."<br /> <br /> As the wild boar gradually became extinct (it all but disappeared from the forests of Scotland bythe 16th century), its presence at the Yuletide feast was more and more reserved for the nobleman who could afford to outfit a hunting party to procure the elusive beast. The symbology of the boar in Celtic myth is well-known; its strength, ruthlessness and intelligence made it a prize among ancient Celtic warriors, as is portrayed among many artifacts and pieces of jewelry and armor from the Bronze Age. It was highly-valued as a food source at military gatherings, wherein men would honor the animal's qualities and invoke them, as they feasted upon its flesh. Its tusks were worn as talismans to confer bravery on the wearer.<br /> <br /> Many royal banquets at Christmas had memorable menus that included huge amounts of exotic foods. Richard II once held a feast for 10,000 people that served 200 oxen and 200 tubs of wine. Henry V held one unforgettable event where a dish called brawn (the flesh from the boar's belly) was the main dish; there was also "dates with mottled cream, carp, prawns, turbot, perch, fresh sturgeons with whelks, roasted porpoise, eels and lampreys, leached meats garnished with hawthorn, and marzipan," among other delicacies. The food was not the only spectacle, however; it was also customary to hire entertainment for these feasts; whether harpers, singers, story-tellers, or minstrels. While the feasts hosted by the wealthy were very opulent, it was also common for communities to organize their own, more humble, events, with church parishes pooling their resources to purchase food and drink, and to hire their own entertainment, or to put on their own productions (this tradition is still very much alive in the U. S. with the traditional "Christmas pageant").<br /> <br /> It is not hard to see how Christmas, over time, evolved into a holiday of excess, centered upon food, drink and fun; and, of course, gift giving. Though the orgy of shopping makes us numb to the true pleasure of gift giving, its origins at this season were based in very simple values of generosity and hospitality.<br /> <br /> Gift giving seems to originate in another December holiday. The feast of Saturnalia (which honored the god Saturn) was long established by the Romans before they invaded Britain, and was celebrated from December 12-17. It was a time when masters waited on servants at mealtime, and gifts of light were given, particularly candles (this may have been in honor of a solar deity for the upcoming solstice). Other traditional gifts exchanged were coins, honey, figs and pastry. Honey and figs were believed to be aphrodisiacs, but also they were highly-prized for their nutritional value (honey is a natural preservative and is believed to restore youthfulness to the skin). The giving of coins predates the traditions in England of handing out coins to the less fortunate, or the opening of a lord's purse to feed his household servants. These Roman customs surrounding the use of candles, and the exchange of gifts at midwinter, shows that many later Yuletide traditions may have originated in the older festival of Saturnalia. It may also be where the tradition of wassailing and caroling door to door, in expectation of gifts of money, arose, but many of these customs developed somewhat naturally over the years out of various practices by both the nobility and the peasant classes of England.<br /> <br /> Wassailing, for example, is a well-loved custom that inspired many songs written especially for the occasion.<br /> <br /> "Wassail, wassail, all over the town,<br /> Our bowl it is white and our ale it is brown<br /> Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree<br /> With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee."<br /> <br /> The term wassail in Old English means "your health." The traditional bowl or cup full of mulled wine originates in the fourteenth century; the leader of a gathering would take up a bowl and cry out "Wassail!" and toast the others; the cup would then be passed on to the next person, with a kiss, until all in the room had drunk from it. Interestingly, some modern Wiccan covens observe this tradition when passing cakes and wine in circle. On another note related to modern Wiccan practice, Hutton also observes that a traditional dance developed that over time that was performed with the customary wassailing carols; and that this dance was performed with a ring of men and women holding hands! Sounds like many a Gardnerian ritual circle I have been to...this is one more example of an ancient folk custom of rural Britain being passed down to modern times and utilized in Witchcraft rites.<br /> <br /></div>

25 December Christ Christian Christmas Christus Kersfees New Testament Pagan holiday witchcraft xmas Yeshua You Call it Christmas, We Call it Yule (Peg Aloi: Witchvox)

This is a reproduced article for information purposes, quoting from a fairly popular Witchcraft page. Read carefully and take note! Autho...

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THE SPIRITUAL PROMISE

<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"> <br /></div> <br /> <br /> Christ was born of Judah. Promise that David’s descendants should have an everlasting kingdom, and should stand to God in the relation of sonship (2 Sam. 7, 1 Chron. 17; etc) are recorded.<br /> <br /> <br /> This was Never earned, but a gift of grace and an unmerited pardon of sin. There are many prophecies of the New Covenant suggested by the prophets, especially Isaiah and Jeremiah, and connected with the Messianic prophecies <a href="https://yeshuaprophecy.blogspot.co.za/p/yeshua.html">(See list under Chapter THE REDEEMER)</a> In anticipation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davidic_line">Davidic Dynasty</a>, Yahweh established by Israel's future king, David, the consummation of the Davidic Covenant in the Divine Person of Christ. Thus, the utter importance of Yeshua of Nazareth, of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of David, in whom Christ first manifest on Earth as the Messiah (Luke 1:32; Heb. 7:14; Rev. 5:5) and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming">Second Advent of Christ</a> when He is destined to rule the Earth as King of Kings in the Kingdom of God on Earth (Rev. 11:15; 17:14; 19:16). One of the reasons for making a covenant is the possibility of one of the parties breaking that covenant. The Agreement of Redemption never had the possibility of failing in any respect. And this is all part of Yahweh’s pre-destined plan for Jew and Gentile to be Reconciled Through Yeshua.<br /> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in the Messiah by the good news:<br /> <br /> <br /> (Ephesians 3:5-6)</blockquote> <br /> The partnership between Israel and the Bride is central to the kingdom of God, and an integral part of the foundation that was laid by the apostles and prophets, as well as the Essenes.<br /> <br /> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a moving message to Christians throughout the world for Christmas in 2016. When he said, in part:<br /> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <a href="http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/standing-with-israel/62016-israeli-prime-minister-delivers-worldwide-christmas-greeting-to-christians" target="_blank">“I send you these greetings from Jerusalem. I'm standing in the courtyard of this magnificent International Christian Embassy. I'm so proud of our relations with our Christian brothers and sisters. I wonder for many of you if you remember the experience you had when you first visited Israel, when you saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Via Dolorosa or the Sea of Galilee or Nazareth. I'm sure it moved you deeply. And it moves us deeply to have this bond with you because we all know that this land of Israel is the land of our common heritage. It changed the story of humanity, it changed civilization.”</a></blockquote> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7oIQXIZbxg0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7oIQXIZbxg0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div> <br /> His full remarks clarified some of the many reasons that, despite our differences, Christians share such a strong bond with Israel. Everything Yahweh has done in regards to our salvation is based on one or more of the covenants Yahweh has made in the past. None of these has been revoked or canceled. While many Evangelicals support Israel, it is primarily on a political level with no connection to the Body of believers within Israel. There is much-impaired vision within the Church in the West about this. It will take revelation and a veil lifted of the Western Church to see this.<br /> <br /> <br /> <h4> Church, Israel and Kingdom – comprise the primary reasons for apostolic and prophetic restoration:</h4> <br /> <ul> <li>Christian Churches – All the first-century communities of faith saw themselves as having emerged from, and submitted to, apostolic and prophetic protection.</li> <li>Israel – All of the first-century communities of faith saw themselves connected to and aligned with Biblical Israel and Jerusalem.</li> <li>Kingdom – Spiritual authority in the international Church before Yeshua returns will become government authority in the Millennial kingdom after He returns (Matthew 19:28, Luke 19:17).</li> </ul> <br /> His Family, “all Israel”, a remnant company of Christian and Jews will return at last to the full possession of their Material and Messianic Inheritance. One of the greatest unifying themes of the biblical prophets was the story of the “Lost Tribes of Israel” and their prophetic return also to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Israel">Land of Israel</a>. They were to be restored in unity as the “Sticks of Joseph and Judah” (Ezekiel 37) into the United Monarchy of the Greater Israel that would now be ruled by the Jewish Maschiah ben David (Messiah son of David). This prophetic theme was a story of rebellion, and rejection of the Divine by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_%28Samaria%29">Northern Kingdom of Israel</a>, their exile and deportation to Khurasan in Northern Iran, Eastern Afghanistan, and Western Pakistan, their lost identity as they assimilated into the nations of the world as they “wandered” across the landscape of Eurasia to Europe. Yet the prophets were emphatic that God was always there watching over them, and though they defamed the name of God, He will redeem them for one purpose only; to honor His Holy Name.<br /> <br /> <br /> On May 14, 1948, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion">David Ben-Gurion</a>, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel">State of Israel</a>. The gift to the modern Jewish State, i.e., the testimony of Christ at Qumran, as revealed in Scroll fragments, was synchronized perfectly with the gift of the modern Jewish State, given by U.N. decree (the second “going forth of the commandment” of Daniel’s prophecy<br /> <br /> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.<br /> <br /> <br /> (Daniel 9:25)</blockquote> <br /> November 29, 1947 was no random event either the U.N. decree, the hope of the ancient Essenes, and the promise of His Word in the period of a Jubilee. In ignorance, the U.N. was prophesying, and the Essenes Scrolls a (“voice” crying from the Judean Wilderness) bore witness: “Behold Israel, the Lamb, the Prince of God!”<br /> <br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: center;"> God’s ultimate purpose, as always, was the revelation of Yeshua, the Prince of God, the Messiah the Prince, the ancestor of Israel, who would come by Divine Authority to fulfill the prophecy.</h3> <div class="zemanta-related" style="clear: both; margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"> <h4 class="zemanta-related-title"> Related articles</h4> <ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0;"> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Israel-evacuates-West-Bank-outpost-court-declared-10901322.php" style="border-radius: 2px; 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display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2015/03/11/removing-israel-from-american-politics/" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="//i.zemanta.com/330972301_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2015/03/11/removing-israel-from-american-politics/" style="background-image: none; display: block; height: 83px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Removing Israel from American politics</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://counterinformation.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/why-israelis-are-content-to-live-in-a-bubble-of-denial/" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="//i.zemanta.com/251772473_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://counterinformation.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/why-israelis-are-content-to-live-in-a-bubble-of-denial/" style="background-image: none; display: block; height: 83px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Why Israelis are Content to Live in a Bubble of Denial</a></li> </ul> </div>

American Israel Public Affairs Committee Benjamin Netanyahu Crucifixion of Jesus Essene Gaza Strip Israel New Testament Yeshua THE SPIRITUAL PROMISE

Christ was born of Judah. Promise that David’s descendants should have an everlasting kingdom, and should stand to God in the relation o...

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The revelation of God's will for man - Part 2

<div> A current appreciation for miracles, angelic visitations, and life-after-death experiences in popular culture, may signal a renewed awareness to forms and expressions of the “supernatural” in everyday life. Although our overly-material mind-set will tend to draw us to conclude there is no true spiritual entity or spiritual battles happening, there can be no denial that we do not fully comprehend the Cosmos and reality for what it really is. We think of God, the devil and the angels. Yet, the Scriptures speak of cherubim, seraphim, satyrs, fire-breathing dragons and other types of creatures, some that we tend to toss into the class of “visionary” or “symbolic” entities. We have Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and the dragon of the sea. So, to put all this into perspective, I am providing here a very exciting follow up on The revelation of God's will for man.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> To understand what was happening, you must understand the separation of the spirit from the flesh. To know how this works, we must know how we, ourselves, are made. The Bible states that we, as humans beings are made in the image of God. The Bible is considered a sacred text by three major world religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Many devout believers consider it to be the literal truth. Others treat it with great respect, but believe that it was written by human beings and, as such is a complex, often contradictory document.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> To understand this, we must know what God is. The Bible states three immutable things about God:</div> <div> 1st God is Spirit, 2nd God is invisible and 3rd God is immortal. If we are made in His image, then we are spirit, we are invisible, and we are immortal. Therefore, when we look into a mirror we do not see our real selves. We see only the body, or earthen vessel, in which we live. Since we are all made in the image of God, we would all be mirror images of one another without our earthly, physical bodies. Therefore, we were given a soul to separate us from one another to make us an individual.The animals in this world also have a soul. The only difference between their souls and ours is that our soul belongs to the spirit. Their souls belongs to the body. When the body perishes, the soul perishe with it. When our body perishes, the soul remains with the spirit. When the spirit is lifted from the body, the soul came with it. I suppose the simplest way to identify the soul would be to say that it is one's personality.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> All things are threefold. from the Divine Triad of Father (Yahweh), Son, and Holy Spirit, to</div> <div> man, who is composed of the fleshly body the sensitive soul, and the rational</div> <div> spirit, it defines the human principles as follows:</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> ·         The sensitive soul is of the four elements, and is the seat of understanding and genius for arts and sciences; You are able to tune the body and soul using the spiritual wavelengths your vision don't see.The soul is an immaterial element; in other words, the soul is spirit as well. It’s the very element in which intellect, emotion, and free will are housed. The soul is the element which controls the body in these three areas. The soul is immortal in the sense that it cannot be annihilated; therefore, it remains alive even if the body is dead physically. Since it’s where free will is located; consequently, it’s the very element that carries the massive burden of sin. Our soul gives us the ability to think, choose, imagine, remember, and feel. Most importantly, the soul is the very embodiment of our mind. As a result, our mind is the very part of our body that Satan and his demons contend against the truth persistently. How we deal with our mind in the light of what the Bible says decides our response to temptation and the deceptions of the enemy. Thereby, our mind needs to be renewed to God’s Word continually (Romans 12:2). Our soul also needs to be fed regularly through the Word and prayer in order to keep it healthy and strong (Matthew 4:4).</div> <div> ·         The rational spirit is from God absolutely; It interacts with God and the spiritual realm through its own set of “senses,” things like faith, hope, and prayer. The sphere of its activity is celestial and divine, and divine inspiration and influence pass through it to the material body. The human spirit is an element given to men in order to enable them to know God intimately through a genuine relationship. Our human spirit is what connects us with God. So to be connected with God is to be alive spiritually (Ephesians 2:5; Romans 6:11; John 5:24) while to be disconnected from God is to be dead spiritually (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). Our human spirit is the element through which the Spirit of God dwells in us after being regenerated by Him (Romans 8:15-16; 1 John 2:20). Man’s conscience needs to be connected to God by the power of the Holy Spirit so that it can operate at the dimension of sensitivity and awareness that God wants. In other words, men’s conscience needs to be illuminated by the indwelling work of the Spirit of God.</div> <div> ·         The body is earth. A house wherein soul and spirit abide temporarily and perform their functions, having been married therein by God at creation.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> At the same time, these strive daily with one another, till the spirit overcomes the soul, and thus attains Godly regeneration, or the Flesh overcomes the soul and and thus attains ungodly regeneration. The Spiritual, continue forever, but continues indefinitely in the realm it is a part of in the afterworld.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Thus, there are only two kinds of death:</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> · That which results from the destruction of vital physical organs by disease or injury</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> · That which results from the destruction of the sensitive soul.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Physical disintegration and flight of the divine Spirit follow in either case. The body and spirit may also be recalled by the direct action of the will of God, without disease or injury.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Gen 5:23  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:</div> <div> Gen 5:24  And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Neither the body nor the spirit can function on its own; both look to the soul for direction and action. Man should therefore preserve and embalm his body against infectious diseases, for the living organism can be embalmed better than a corpse. It is impossible, however, to cure those diseases with which God in His unsearchable compassion, may Himself scourge mankind.When a person dies, there are two different eternities to which they may go, Luke 16:22-23; Heb. 9:27; Matt. 13:42; Matt. 25:46.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Most importantly, he should also combat the venomous influences of ominous Spiritual forces, for Elohim, has gifted men with the power to compose characters that will destroy such influences, through the power of the Holy Spirit.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> The invisible world is occupied by an Almighty, benevolent God, Yahweh, and a host of spirits, including angels, archangels, and other more malevolent entities, powers, and principalities. The idea of Yahweh having a governing body around him may sound strange to us today, but you’ll start to see it in the Scriptures more clearly as we go along. The bible, or Canonical Scripture, and other Hebrew sources teach that Yahweh has established a government in the spiritual realm that assists Him in the affairs of mankind. Watchers and holy ones, make up this council of Yahweh and rule the physical regions or geographic areas or nation of this world. Many of the non-canonical Hebrew writings mention it too if you know to be looking for it!</div> <div> <br /></div> <div>  Gen 11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.</div> <div> Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.</div> <div> Psa 82:1  A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.</div> <div> Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> The earliest reference to a system of seven archangels as a group appears to be in Enoch I (the Book of Enoch) which is not part of the Jewish Scriptures, where they are named as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Zerachiel and Remiel.</div> <div> · Yahweh has a divine council around His throne that rule and reign over various aspects of creation.</div> <div> · Yahweh has appointed governing princes over each nation to guide and aid mankind. These princely rulers are often referred to as gods (lower G) because over time men began to worship them as gods.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; (Psalms 136:2-3 ESV)</div> <div> But they are never to be considered as peers of Yahweh or on his level. For we are clearly told:</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Psa 86:8  Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> We commonly find Yahweh contrasted with these types of beings when he is referred to as the one true God, the true Lord of lords and the God of gods.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.' And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.' (1 Kings 22:19-22 ESV)</div> <div> the borders of the peoples, the number of the nations created, were based upon the number of sons of God that there were.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. (Deuteronomy 32:8 ESV)</div> <div> It emphasizes that these “Glorious Ones” immediately followed by bringing up reference to angels as being more powerful than them, could easily be speaking about those in spiritual authority over nations. We are to understand they are on a different hierarchy level and we are instructed to respect and recognize the authority given to them by Yahweh.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> 2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.</div> <div> 2Pe 2:11  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> · The term Baal is fairly generic and simply means someone along the lines of a lord or master.</div> <div> So Baal does become more of a term that is applied to worshipped beings. It is used frequently throughout the Hebrew Scriptures in different manners such as lords of cities, monuments, tribes of Israel, and certain abilities. We find often that this body of beings is used in a plural sense. In this case, of the Baals, they made one of them, Baal-berith, their leader:</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. (Judges 8:33 ESV)</div> <div>  </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> · The word we use, Satan, is always actually a name, but a title.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> “Satan” is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary” or “accuser.” It’s never used as a name in the Old Testament and is often applied to humans. For example, King Rezon of Syria is said to be a satan (“adversary”) of Solomon. There is also an angelic creature known as “the satan,” who acts as a sort of prosecutor. For example, God allows the satan to persecute Job to see if he will remain faithful even after losing everything. Correctly, we usually refer to “the Devil,” but at some point, we started treating “Satan” as a given name, with no “the” needed. So does the Devil have a name? It’s not Lucifer (“morning star”), which the Bible only uses once, about a king of Babylon. And Belial and Beelzebub didn’t start as names, either. So if the Devil is supposed to have a name, we have no idea what it is. The word “devil” (diabolos) also means “accuser” and is just a Greek translation of satan. Satan is merely one of the rebellious princes and sons of God and has more than likely completed his “allotted period”. As mentioned earlier, Satan actually gets very little coverage in the Hebrew Scriptures, and appears more in the New Testament because his allotted time was focused mainly on the time of the coming of the Messiah.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Having said all that, in the demon world, there is a division of power much like a military structured chain command with rank and order. Certain demons carry the title of prince, which is always the demon in charge of a principality. A principality is a territory, an area, a place or a group that may range in size from as large as a nation to as small as a person. When Satan assigns a prince a task, the prince is given the authority to act in the name of Satan and use whatever means necessary or available to him to accomplish his task.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Eze 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> many people equate this as being about Satan. But the text does not necessitate that and instead can easily be seen as yet another story of just one of the sons of God,  a guardian of the garden, later a princely ruler of Tyre, falling and being destroyed by Yahweh.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> · Archangel Michael is just “one” of these chief princes.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Archangels are the highest-ranking angels in heaven. God gives them the most important responsibilities, and they do their work both in the heavenly dimension and in the earthly one. The word “archangel” is from the Greek words “arche” (ruler) and “angelos” (messenger), signifying archangels’ dual duties. Archangels rule over the universe’s daily operation on missions from God, while also delivering messages from God to human beings.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> They're 7 in number and were repeatedly mentioned in Revelations;</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> "I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. " - Rev 15:1</div> <div> Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.</div> <div> Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Michael is litterally in charge, or a ruler of Daniel’s people. So it is no wonder we hear more about this Michael angel than others, because the thrust of the whole of Scripture is dealing with Yahweh’s chosen nation Israel, of which Michael is the prince.</div> <div> The Son of God, Saviour of the World</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." (Luke 4:5-7 ESV)</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Faith in the benevolent power of Christ is the most powerful charm to challenge the works of evil Conjurers, spirits and witches. The Son of God, Saviour of the World, generated in the fullness of time, and born, according to the flesh, of the Race of David, did live on this earth, whose Most Holy Name is Jesus, before which the heavens, earth, and hell do bend the knee; we have seen with what power He commanded demons, which power was also transmitted to St. Peter by that utterance:</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> “Upon this rock, I will build My</div> <div> Church, and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> These words were addressed to Peter as the Head and Foundation of the Church. We then, who, by the mercy of God, and despite the poverty of our merit, have the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven committed to our hands, desiring to communicate the power of invoking and commanding Spirits, which hath been reserved unto us alone, and our possessors did alone enjoy; wishing, I repeat, by Divine inspiration, to share it with our fellow Christians and dear sons in Jesus Christ, and fearing not the Spiritual enemies, they might otherwise be appalled at the frightful figures of those rebellious angels who in sin were cast into the abyss, unless they should be sufficiently learned in those things which must be performed and observed, and that those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ may not be tormented by any witchcraft or possessed by the demon.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Rom 8:38-39  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> In The revelation of God's will for man - Part 4, we will investigate in depth Israel’s significance and the mystery surrounding the Messiah, Jesus Christ.</div> <div> Related articles</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Back to Work 308: When Does the Fork Go on the Sat?</div> <div> So Many Questions...Only One Source for Truth(standupforthetruth.com)</div> <div> Look into the Mirror(dedicated2jesuschrist.com)</div> <div> The Power of Joy(mormonsoprano.com)</div> <div> Build Church: Together as Family(theotherjc.com)</div> <div> There's Freedom in Submission(faithandfootsteps.wordpress.com)</div> <div> <br /></div>

Bible Biblical Sabbath Christ Christian God God the Father Holy Spirit Jesus Lord Love of God New Testament Prayer Shield of faith. Sin Sword of the Spirit The revelation of God's will for man - Part 2

A current appreciation for miracles, angelic visitations, and life-after-death experiences in popular culture, may signal a renewed awarene...

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Halloween or "Hell o ween"?

<div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="Jack-o-lantern" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="313" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg/350px-Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 350px;">Jack-o-lantern (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr> </tbody></table> From earliest recorded history in Ireland, Halloween or Oíche Shamhna was considered a turning point in the calendar. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Samhain">Samhain</a> (November 1st), meant the start of winter, when cattle were brought down from summer pastures, tributes and rents paid, and other business contracted. Samhain, marks the close of the season of light and the beginning of the dark half of the year, and was therefore perceived as a liminal moment in time when movement between the otherworld and this world was possible.<br /> <br /> The Britons celebrated in honor of their sun-god with bonfires, a tribute to the light that brought them abundant harvest. The Druids originated the holiday, which was a celebration of Saman Lord of the Dead who was the God of Evil Spirits,". He was thought to gather together at last the souls of the year's dead which had been consigned to the bodies of animals in punishment for their sins. The custom of Halloween ‘guising’remains strong, and in recent times has been boosted by the popularity of the horror movie genre in the USA. Irish children now go out to ‘trick or treat’, where previously the refrain ‘help the Hallowe’en party’ was most usual. In 1846 America was welcoming a new group of immigrants, the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine. This new cultural influence brought with it a melding of Irish and English traditions, and a new Americans culture was born. People began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition.<br /> <br /> <h3> All Hallows Eve</h3> The name Hallowe’en is a shortening of All Hallows’ Even, or All Hallows’ Evening. All Hallows is an old term for All Saints’ Day (Hallow, from the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Old English">Old English</a> “halig”, or holy, compared with Saint, from the Latin “sanctus”, also meaning holy, or consecrated - it took a decree at the insistence of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_IV" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Pope Gregory IV">Pope Gregory IV</a> to all the bishops, that the celebration be confirmed on November 1st. These early similar celebrations come together around 835AD. The Roman pagan festival is over taken by the early Church, the Irish Church conforms it's celebrations with Rome, and everyone seems to move their day of the dead to coincide with early Irish pagans and their celebration of Samhain on November 1st. So, by Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV attempt to end the pagan Samhain festivals, they achieved quite the opposite.<br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <br /> It is said that the souls in Purgatory are released to visit their still mortal friends. Long ago the country folk before they retired to bed on this night always prepared a blazing fire and a well swept hearth to welcome their unearthly visitors. The first was to honor the dead who were allowed to rise from the Otherworld. The Celts believed that souls were set free from the land of the dead during the eve of Samhain. Young women believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors. Psychic readings would be conducted with a variety of divination tools. Such as throwing bones, or casting the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogham" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Ogham">Celtic Ogham</a>. There is some historical evidence that additional tools of divination were also used. Most of this comes from writings recorded by Roman invaders, but there are stories of reading tea leaves, rocks and twigs, and even simple spiritual communications that today we'd call Channeling. They get three saucers and they put a ring in one saucer, clay in the other and water in the third. Then they put a cloth on some person’s eyes. If he puts his hand into the saucer with the ring in it he will be the first to be married. If he puts his hand into the saucer with the clay in it he will die soon. If he puts his hands into the saucer with the water in it he will cross the water to a foreign land.<br /> <br /> A favorite form of activity for young people at this critical moment in time was to attempt to predict future events in a variety of different ways: would they become rich (or destitute), would they marry soon, and so on. They get three saucers and they put a ring in one saucer, clay in the other and water in the third. Then they put a cloth on some person’s eyes. If he puts his hand into the saucer with the ring in it he will be the first to be married. If he puts his hand into the saucer with the clay in it he will die soon. If he puts his hands into the saucer with the water in it he will cross the water to a foreign land<br /> <br /> In his book Irish Folk Lore (1870), the writer ‘Lageniensis’ noted: ‘It is considered that, on All Hallows’ Eve, hobgoblins, evil spirits, and fairies, hold high revel, and that they are travelling abroad in great numbers.<br /> The dark and sullen Phooka [Púca] is then particularly mischievousness and many mortals are abducted to fairy land. Those persons taken away to the raths are often seen at this time by their living friends, and usually accompanying a fairy cavalcade.’ The fairies be out that night and they would take you away with them if you were out at that evil time. It is also said that the devil shakes his budges [fur] on the haws and turns them black and according to the old people if you eat a haw after <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Halloween">Hallow Eve</a> night you will have no luck.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samhain_NovComFire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="November-Coming-Fire" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="400" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Samhain_NovComFire.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="398" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 200px;">November-Coming-Fire (Photo credit: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samhain_NovComFire.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3> <b>Dressing in grotesque costumes</b> </h3> The custom of dressing up in costumes and making house visits to request small presents – fruit, sweets, and money – is traditionally dominant in the eastern half of Ireland. Begging at the door grew from an ancient English custom of knocking at doors to beg for a "soul cake" in return for which the beggars promised to pray for the dead of the household. On Hallowe’en night the boys dress up like old men. Some of them dress up like old hags. They put on long trousers, women’s hats and soot on their faces and more of them have false faces. They go around from house to house and they are invited in and given something and the ringleader sings songs and plays tunes on the mouth organ and melodion. Then they get apples and nuts and sometimes money.<br /> <br /> Those that had been trapped in the bodies of animals were released by the Lord of the Dead and sent to their new incarnations. The wearing of these costumes signified the release of these souls into the physical world. Tales and legends of the returning dead, and the intrusion of supernatural beings into this world, were once plentiful.<br /> <br /> ‘Snap apple’, one of many Hallowe’en amusements.<br /> In popular tradition Hallowe’en is<br /> a time for feasting and merrymaking. For rural communities especially, the tasks of housing the livestock, harvesting and storing produce, picking and preserving fruits etc. should be completed by this time. Feasting on fruits and rich foods represented an appropriate climax to the season. Festive foods included colcannon, also known as stampy or pandy, sweet cake, fruits and nuts. A variety of games were played, such as ‘dipping’ in a tub of water for coins, ‘snapping’ for apples and other amusements. We get a big basin of water and start to duck for apples. We get nuts and roast them in the fire. Then a knock comes to the door and the púca boys come in. They dance around<br /> the floor and sing songs - Clongorey, Kildare<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wheel_of_the_year.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="English: Wheel of the Year with Fire Festivals..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="298" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Wheel_of_the_year.png/350px-Wheel_of_the_year.png" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 350px;">English: Wheel of the Year with Fire Festivals and Quarter Festivals, Neopagan holidays: Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wheel_of_the_year.png" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr> </tbody></table> To pagans the world over, November 1st, still marks the beginning of the New Year. The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Huron_Feast_of_the_Dead" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="The Huron Feast of the Dead">Feast of the Dead</a> forms a major part of most Pagan celebrations on this eve, and at Samhain voluntary communications are expected and hoped for. The departed are not harassed, and their presence is never commanded. The spirits of the dead are, however, ritually invited to attend the Sabbat and to be present within the Circle. To Witches and Pagans, Samhain is the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_the_Dead" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Festival of the Dead">Festival of the Dead</a>, and for many, it is the most important Sabbat (Holiday) of the year. The colors of this Sabbat are black and orange. Black to represent the time of darkness after the death of the god (who is represented by fire and the sun) during an earlier Sabbat known as Lughnasadh, and the waning of light during the day. 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Jack-o-lantern (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) From earliest recorded history in Ireland, Halloween or Oíche Shamhna was considered a tur...

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Prayer: A Challenge for Science

<div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="zemanta-img"> <div class="zemanta-img"> <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Priere.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="English: A group of women praying. Italiano: D..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="382" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Priere.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="283" /></a></div> </div> </td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 283px;">English: A group of women praying. Italiano: Donne russe in preghiera. Lumbaart: Fònne che le dìs i pàter. Română: Creştine rugându-se. Kiswahili: Wanawake wakisali pamoja. (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Priere.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr> </tbody></table> In Sophist, written in 360 BC, Plato wrote:<br /> <br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> “My notion would be, that anything which possesses any sort of power to affect another, or to be affected by another, if only for a single moment, however trifling the cause and however slight the effect, has real existence; and I hold that the definition of being is simply power.”</blockquote> <br /> Since ancient times, a strong and pervasive belief in the efficacy of prayer for the living and the dead reinforces the notion that consciousness is not limited to the physical body. Not only do traditions throughout the world share a belief that prayers may in some way help (or invoke help from) deceased ancestors, many cultures throughout history have believed that prayer can bring about changes in the physical circumstances of the living.<br /> <br /> If prayer affects things in the physical world, its effects should be measurable, and science should be able to investigate it. There is a very scattered literature on this, but when you bring it all together as Larry Dossey has done in his book, Healing Words (HarperSanFrancisco, 1993), you see there is quite a large number of interesting experiments with challenging results. Out of 131 controlled experiments on prayer-based healing, more than half showed statistically significant benefits. One of the best known is a double blind study of 393 patients in the coronary unit at San Francisco General Hospital. In this experiment, 192 patients, chosen at random, were prayed for by home prayer groups, the others were not. The prayed-for patients recovered better than the controls, and fewer died.<br /> <br /> In order to make sense of these data on the efficacy of prayer, science will have to change its underlying assumptions about the nature of causality. Currently, the standard view is still purely mechanistic- notwithstanding all the recent talk about chaos and complexity theory. When applied to the life sciences, chaos and complexity theory even with the help of highly sophisticated computer modeling still explain the world in terms of mechanical causes involving known physical and chemical processes.<br /> <br /> The data from empirical studies of prayer, as well as from the large literature reporting psi research in telepathy, clairvoyance and psychokinesis, seriously challenge the mechanistic view. Some other causal agent besides the mechanics of electrochemical interactions is required to make sense of the observed phenomena.<br /> <br /> Holistic thinkers generally divide into two main categories. The majority want to have holism on the cheap. They want a holism which doesn't conflict with science as we know it. Instead of exploring the possibility of new causal factors, they prefer to explain holism in terms of complexity and self-organization of conventional mechanical forces, modeled with sophisticated mathematics and the latest computer techniques. Nothing essentially different from physical and chemical interactions is considered to account for the properties of living systems.<br /> <br /> The other group of holists, a minority among which I include myself and Larry Dossey, think that there is more to it than just what we know about chemistry and physics and clever mathematical models. My view is that there are other causal factors in nature, processes that make actual differences causes in nature which bring about new kinds of effects that we have to take into account in order to understand our experience and the world. <a href="http://physic-spirit.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/rethinking-time-space-consciousness-and.html">These new causal factors are involved in things like paranormal phenomena, prayer and healing.</a><br /> <br /> The whole thrust of my morphic resonance theory is to say there is more to nature than just the standard forces in physics. And what's more these other agents are at the very heart of the way things are organized in chemistry, in life, and in consciousness.<br /> <br /> Prayer and Mental Fields<br /> <br /> How might prayer fit in with the scientific view of things? I shall focus on two broad categories of prayer: petitionary and intercessory. In petitionary prayer we ask for something for ourselves; in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercession" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Intercession">intercessory prayer</a> we pray to a higher power for the benefit of other people (either living or dead).<br /> <br /> In praying for other people and for ourselves we ask a higher power to bring about a particular result. For me, this is what distinguishes prayer from positive thinking. Positive thinking involves nothing more than ones own mind, ones own desires and wishes, but petitionary and intercessory prayer are put in the context of a higher power. For this reason positive thinking does not fit into the category of prayer even though it is often confused with it.<br /> <br /> Whether petitionary or intercessory, prayer clearly poses a challenge to the mechanistic view of the world. According to this view, there is no way that thoughts going on in your head, which at most create small electrochemical disturbances barely detectable a few inches from your head even by highly sensitive apparatus, could affect someone or something at a remote distance.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> If you were practicing positive thinking or some of the more specifically directed forms of petitionary prayer, you could resort to explanations in terms of telepathy, or if it were a prayer affecting physical objects, you might say it was psychokinesis. But such explanations serve only to replace one set of explanations which lie outside the scope of modern mechanistic science with another set. There is nothing in mechanistic science that could allow mere thoughts inside my mind, whether cast in the form of prayer or as positive thinking, to affect things at a distance. It just cant happen.<br /> <br /> The key to understanding prayer as a scientific phenomenon requires, in my view, getting away from the idea of the mind as somehow inside the brain. <a href="http://physic-spirit.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/quantum-entanglement-and-esp.html">If we think our minds are confined to our brains the standard view then since what goes on in our brain occurs in the privacy and isolation of our own skull it cant affect anyone else.</a> However, I see minds being field-like in nature (part of my general view of morphic fields), and I see mental fields as the basis for habitual patterns of thought. Mental fields go beyond, through, and interface with the electromagnetic patterns in the brain. In this way mental fields can affect our bodies through our brains. However, they are much more extensive than our brains, reaching out to great distances in some cases.<br /> <br /> As soon as we have the idea that the mind can be extended through these mental fields, and over large distances, we have a medium of connection through which the power of prayer could work. We are no longer dealing with a purely mechanical system in the brain, with absolutely no way of connecting the brain and the observed effect for if that were the case the phenomenon of effective prayer would have to be dismissed as delusion or coincidence. With a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_%28esotericism%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Energy (esotericism)">mental field</a>, however, we have a medium for a whole series of connections between us and the people, animals and places we know and care about with the rest of the world, in fact. When we pray, those extended mental fields would be the context in which prayer could work non-locally.<br /> <br /> Non-Localized Mind<br /> <br /> Clearly, this does not amount to a fully articulated scientific theory of prayer; it is highly speculative. But, I believe, it is also very clear that we need to have a much broader view of how the mind is extended beyond the brain. We need a theory of what I call the "extended mind" as opposed to the conventional scientific view of the "contracted mind" holed up inside the skull. This view of a contracted mind came from Descartes in the seventeenth century. It is a model of consciousness which separates our minds from the whole world around us into a small region in the brain a model of the mind which plainly contradicts direct experience. For example, when you see this page in front of you, you experience it as being outside you, not inside your brain. To say that this and all your other perceptions are located in your brain is a theory, not an experience.<br /> <br /> It is important, however, not to envisage the extended mind as some amorphous field, a kind of undifferentiated Universal Mind. I dont think we should make a large leap from the concept of a contracted mind to a boundless universal mind. Such a jump isn't helpful scientifically.<br /> <br /> My idea of morphic fields is that even though they are extended and non-local in their effects, they are still part of our individual and collective mind, but not to be equated with some ultimate Universal Mind. The morphic fields are not God. <a href="http://physic-spirit.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/scientific-understanding.html">They are non-local in the sense that they can spread out over immense distances</a> (as, for instance, gravitational fields do), so that if I were praying about somebody in Australia from my home in London the morphic field would carry the information and the prayer could work. But my mental field wouldn't usually spread out to Mars, for example, because there is nothing connecting me to someone on that planet. If someone I knew had traveled there on a spaceship, then there would be a link. For morphic fields to have a mental connection I believe there has to be something that links you to the other person. Even if you have never met the other person, I believe just knowing their name or something about them seems to be enough to establish a connection, though this connection is likely to be weaker than that between people who know each other well.<br /> <br /> You could picture it something like this: When two people come into contact and establish some mental connection (perhaps experienced as affection, love, even hate) their morphic fields in effect become part of a larger, inclusive field. Then, if they separate from each other it is as if their particular portions of the morphic field are stretched elastically, so that there remains a "mental tension" or link between them. There has to be something like this that relates the two people.<br /> <br /> Nested Sets of Morphic Fields<br /> <br /> Morphic fields are organized in nested hierarchies (see below). For example, there are morphic fields surrounding the atoms in our bodies, which are within the higher level morphic fields of molecules, organelles, cells, organs and limbs, all of which exist within the morphic field associated with the entire body. The body field, in turn, would be within the field of relationships that constitute a family, within a larger social group. Societies, in turn, are embedded within ecosystems, and ecosystems within the planetary system, "Gaia". And by extrapolation, we could extend the series of nested morphic fields until we reach out beyond planetary, solar system and galactic limits to encompass the entire universe.<br /> <br /> Even Einstein's space-time field of gravitation is a universal, cosmic field holding everything together and linking the entire universe, in fact, making it a uni-verse. It does the same thing as the World Soul or Anima Mundi of neo-Platonic philosophy. It embraces the whole cosmos. There are levels upon levels of morphic fields within fields, within which we are embedded. Human life is embedded in vastly larger fields of organization. To what degree they are conscious still remains in the realm of speculation. But I would assume that higher-level fields are not less, and probably more, conscious than we are. I would think they are more conscious than we are not simply because they are larger in size, but because they are more inclusive, contain more complexity, and encompass more possibilities.<br /> <br /> I think that is one way of interpreting traditional doctrines about super-human intelligences, or cosmic intelligences, usually thought of in Christianity as the hierarchy of the angels. The word "angel" normally conveys the image of a good-looking youth with wings; but that's simply a pictorial representation. The traditional doctrine behind that image, however, is of a super-human intelligence. And if the solar system and galaxy have intelligence, then one might be an angel and the other an archangel. In some traditional Christian doctrines there are, for instance, nine hierarchies of angels or levels of intelligence. And I would see these as equivalent to intelligences, minds or organizing fields at different levels of complexity. The galactic angels, for instance, would embrace or include those of solar systems, which in turn would include those of planets.<br /> <br /> This is a description of a cosmos which has intelligence at every level, not a view that sees consciousness as something that emerged from unconscious matter. Conscious intelligence was there to start with. The place to look for it is not going to be in atoms or quanta (although there may be some kind of consciousness there), but in solar systems and galaxies and in the whole cosmos. There may be all these different levels of imagination, intelligence, and mind throughout the whole of the cosmic organization. All traditional doctrines that I know of have recognized something of that kind.<br /> <br /> Notes & References<br /> <br /> 1. For an extended discussion of these theories, see R. Sheldrake, A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Formative Causation (Tarcher, 1981), and The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature(Vintage, 1988).<br /> <br /> Opening Up To The Numinous<br /> <br /> As a scientist I wasn't always interested in prayer. In fact, in earlier days I believed it was all nonsense. I was an atheist; God had no room in my scientific education. After graduating from Cambridge, I thought I had outgrown childish belief structures like religion, and that rational science was the way forward. I had a typical secular-humanist atheistic worldview for a long time, well into my thirties. And this, of course, is the worldview that most of my scientific colleagues still have. They regard religion as a relic from a superstitious age. In that context, prayer is completely meaningless, except insofar as people believe in it they may derive some psychological benefit a kind of "placebo effect".<br /> <br /> Then in 1968 I visited India, and all the materialist assumptions I took for granted just didn't seem to work any more. What struck me most was the experience of being immersed in a culture that worked in an entirely different way to what I had been accustomed. In this exotic culture, the idea of what we might call "other realms" the supernatural or spiritual was simply taken for granted by practically everybody. There was a palpable sense of another dimension to life, everywhere you looked, and everywhere you went.<br /> <br /> As an atheist, of course, my initial reaction was to think they were deluded in their beliefs. Yet on the other hand, these beliefs produced a fascinating culture. <a href="https://yeshuaprophecy.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/the-didache-teaching-of-twelve-apostles.html">Even people living in the extremes of poverty seemed to have more joy in their lives than most people I knew who lived in the lap of plenty.</a> I was touched deeply by the natural human warmth, and the quality of the people and of their way of life. According to the materialist beliefs I had, poverty equaled misery; wealth and good medical attention meant, if not happiness, then at least a much better quality of life. In India I saw it wasn't as simple as that. The people there were poor beyond the comprehension of most Westerners, yet everywhere they walked about with the most radiant smiles. Walk along a street in London, Paris or New York and you see mostly harried, worried faces. That difference impressed me very deeply.<br /> <br /> The contrast between the sense of inner joy and peace I experienced all around me in India compared with the tense way of life in the West was so striking that I decided to investigate meditation. For about four years I did various forms of Hindu practice. This didn't conflict with my scientific attitude because meditation didn't challenge my whole scientific worldview. On the contrary, I could approach my study of meditation in a truly scientific spirit. Its appeal is that you do it and see if it works. It's empirical. You sit, you calm your breath and you observe what happens. I started with Transcendental Meditation which sounded scientific in that it was supposed to lower lactose levels in the blood, have beneficial effects on the circulation, and calm brain activity. I found that meditation did indeed work. I experienced within myself that calm I was seeing all around me in India.<br /> <br /> As a scientist I wasn't troubled. I could understand meditation by explaining to myself that it wasn't opening me up to other realms of consciousness, but that it was simply changing the physiological state of my brain. To say that breathing in a particular way and doing a particular kind of mental activity could affect my mental and physical state did not challenge my worldview.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, although I could follow Hindu practices, India was such a completely different civilization and culture that there was no way I'd ever be an Indian. I began to have a sense that I would need to recover my own tradition if I were to share in the deep perceptions and peace that I saw in the people around me.<br /> <br /> Furthermore, after living there a while, I also saw the shadow side of the Hindu tradition, which I hadn't seen in my earlier brief visit. There is a fatalistic lack of concern for other people that was alien to me. That view was at variance with my more optimistic, progressivist Christian culture.<br /> <br /> In India I came face to face with the realization that rooted in the Christian tradition is the sense that you can, and should, help other people; we can aim for some better state of affairs on Earth, for the whole of society. When I talked with my Indian friends and colleagues, it became very clear that I had this view deep within me. I realized that this sense didn't come from Hindu philosophy, nor from my atheistic outlook. Instead, I saw it came from a deeply embedded Christian view of the world that I carried with me unwittingly. In fact, I realized this partly because in conversation with my Indian friends they would frequently point out that so much of what I was expressing was a Christian view. The repeated revelation of this, even to an avowed atheist, was difficult to ignore.<br /> <br /> I spent some time living in Father Bede Griffiths ashram, and I found that coming back to a Christian path made sense to me. I began praying and discovered that it was more helpful to me than meditating. I would say that meditation involves a kind of separation between the practice and the rest of ones life; it is going into another space altogether. You could say that contemplative prayer would have the same effect. But for me, ordinary petitionary and intercessory prayer, such as the "Lords Prayer", links the events of my daily life directly with my practice. I pray about what I've done that day and whats coming up the next day. It's a matter of bringing the very fabric of one's life -relationships, work, and personal concerns into the context of the spiritual life.<br /> <br /> How Do Mental Fields Work?<br /> <br /> My hypothesis of morphic resonance and morphic fields has grown out of the notion in developmental biology of "morphogenic fields". This idea dates back to the 1920s in the work of biologists A. Gurwitsch and Paul Weiss. In modern developmental biology these fields are usually regarded as heuristic devices, or as mathematical abstractions with no causal effect. By contrast, I interpret them to be causal fields with an inherent memory given by morphic resonance; in other words I regard them as one kind of morphic field. Other kinds of morphic fields include behavioral fields, responsible for coordinating instinctive or learned behavior, mental fields, responsible for organizing mental activity, and social fields, responsible for organizing social groups.<br /> <br /> If fields are the medium of mind then what you have in the brain is an interface between one kind of field and another kind of field. All organization in the body has morphic fields underlying it. Morphic fields in the brain interact with electromagnetic (EM) fields in the brain. However, the nature of this interaction is indirect. Rather than morphic fields working directly through the electromagnetic field, they interact through both affecting the same thing in this case, physical activity within the brain.<br /> <br /> I am not saying that there is a linear-type causal relationship between brain-electromagnetic-morphic fields. I regard mental fields as one kind of morphic field that affects the brain, shaping its activity, and this affects the EM field associated with the brain.<br /> <br /> Here you've got fields acting on fields: morphic fields surrounding all the cells, tissues and organs of the body, as well as in molecules and cell membranes, and indeed in quantum-matter fields. This is contrasted with the more usual view of the spirit-matter dichotomy where mechanical matter and ineffable spirit interact in some kind of quasi-miraculous way. If you say that the spirit acts on the EM field, you've got a problem of miraculous intervention.<br /> <br /> On the other hand, if everything in nature is organized by fields, and if mental fields are a more subtle kind of field, you've got no sharp dichotomy- you've got fields acting through fields at all levels of reality. 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English: A group of women praying. Italiano: Donne russe in preghiera. Lumbaart: Fònne che le dìs i pàter. Română: Creştine rugându-...

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